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    Union-Class, Fleet Starship; Research Platform and Observation Station (RPOS) configuration. Catalog reference: Psi Upsilon Psi. Nameplate: COAST CITY.
    Summary:
    The U-Star COAST CITY was one of only two RPOS-configured stationary orbital platforms put into service by the Fleet. Although twenty-four such space stations were ordered, production problems with kitset modules for both the COAST CITY and its sister COLLINSPORT resulted in curtailing of the RPOS program by then–Fleet Admiral LAUREN AVALON. After a lead-in time of seven years, the Fleet station program was retooled, resulting in the now ubiquitous Multipurpose Orbital Platforms (MOPs), the STAR CITY, the METROPOLIS, and the [REDACTED] being the first science platform and command center stations put into operation.
    After the COAST CITY and COLLINSPORT were commissioned, a series of [REDACTED] structural failures and robotic system malfunctions during assembly at each site resulted in [REDACTED]. While both stations were completed and activated to schedule, their history made them unpopular tours for Fleet personnel and both facilities were plagued with morale problems and petty crime. Following an [REDACTED]
    The COLLINSPORT was decommissioned after twelve years of service, its demise hastened by a failure of the main power pack and [REDACTED]. Originally designed as a monitoring station and launch point in the Oort cloud for Fleet craft entering and exiting the Home System, the unpowered U-Star was towed to Jovian orbit, where it was disassembled. Components of the station were recycled and reused as part of the helium-3 robotic mining systems in orbit around that planet. For more information, please see /JMC_27s_intro_CC-SECURE.rtz, “History of the Jovian Corporation.”
    The COAST CITY was assembled in a stationary orbit at a distance of 1.2 AU around SHADOW, an asymptotic giant branch technetium star in the constellation of Upsilon. The COAST CITY served a dual role as science base for the study of the star and the properties of its radiated energy and also as a forward warning post against SPIDER aggression in the SHADOW system, as it was believed at one point that the sentient machine race would attempt to harness the unusual properties of the star as part of an attack on Fleet space. This concern proved to be unwarranted and no SPIDER activity was ever recorded in the system. For more information, please see /antag_SPIDER_techspec_high_CC-SECURE.rtz, “Spider high-energy experimentation and special weapons development.”
    The COAST CITY was placed under the command of Commandant PRICE ELBRIDGE, seconded from the PSI-MARINE CORPS on the personal orders of [REDACTED]
    Specifications:
    Station hub
    Diameter: 1,627 meters
    Circumference: 5,112 meters; housing 23 levels of habitable space plus robotic service levels
    Spire
    Length: 2,063 meters (including communication antenna and sensor probe packs)
    Diameter: 200 meters (widest point, housing bridge and command centers [habitable space] plus robotic service levels and computer bays) tapering to 13 meters
    Power pack
    Three Rolls-Royce Dreadnought cold fusion reactors, output 3.9 GW per unit
    Crew complement
    2,200; consisting of crew, executive and scientific personnel, one Marine battalion, and one Psi-Marine company
    “Long way out, sir.”
    Ida looked up from the screen. Sitting in front of him in the shuttle, the pilot didn’t turn around but nodded at the viewscreen that occupied the entire forward wall of the cockpit, wrapping around each side a little to simulate an actual window. Ida let the computer pad rest on his leg and adjusted himself in the narrow seat, the leather beneath him creaking.
    “It sure is,” said Ida. Background reading on his destination forgotten for the moment, he took in the spectacular view.
    The